The operation of household appliances accounts for a large percentage of residential energy usage per household. Conventionally, an external device or hub (i.e., communication hub or controller) has been used to control the operation of one or more household appliances or monitor energy (e.g., power) usage of one or more household appliances. In operation, the conventional hub commonly may be plugged into a power source, and then a power cord of each of the appliances, which is intended to be controlled/monitored by the hub, is plugged into the hub. Conventional devices attempt to control, for example, operating times of one or more household appliances, to reduce energy usage of one or more household appliances, or to prevent the household from exceeding a maximum energy (e.g., power) consumption.